Chapter 37: The Battle of New Rome

So whenever I post this I'm planning on updating rapid fire. In fact I may even write the next two or three chapters a day and write them both fully before publishing, as the break between these two is not something I wanna leave you guys hanging onto for three weeks. So, sorry No Choice fans in advance but as of the 16th of November, progress for that story's gonna be quite slow until I pump this battle out.

This chapter's mainly just action and war filler so if you're interested more in the main characters plot then you could probably zoom to near the end of the chapter but by all means if you wanna read then read.

Chapter 37: The Battle of New Rome

They came at dusk.

On the cliffside of a western peak that was distinct among the hills and forests surrounding the Roman stronghold, four people stood. They were all a similar height and three of them looked near identical.

There was the first boy, leaning on a long spear lazily with his auburn hair flowing naturally and a crazed look in his eye. His golden eyes, the ones that showed a promising sign of madness, pierced the equally golden western light and reflected for all below to see. His golden armor and Corinthian helmet glistened in the light of the sunset. Calix, son of Perseus and Artemis, brother of Larissa, was hellbent on finding the man who brutalized his twin and murdered his brother, and delivering an equally horrific punishment upon him.

The boy on the other side was stoic; tall, broad and still did he stand among his family. His silver eyes just like his mother's were eager for the coming moonlight but it didn't matter. They saw just as well even when all he could see was red. On a golden axe he rested his hands, watching the dogs. He had dressed for warm weather with a style not unlike his mother's traditional battle gear. Fur covering his shoulders with light leather armor covering his chest and steel bracers on each arm. Achilles was the red horse, the storm of war, the epitome of bloodshed to the Romans.

His sister was a different story. A princess of Olympus turned dark by circumstance and tragic events. Her face, once soft and playful with always a slight smirk adorning it was now only styled with a cold face that stared down at the city her mother brought her occasionally. Blinded by grief and anger, she felt nothing for the inhabitants. Her left hand was on her hip while her right fiddled with the Cursed Blade Anaklusmos, it's tip dug into the ground while her fingers dangled on the pommel. She had little armor: a chestplate underneath her shirt and bracers on her forearms, but on her back flowed a cape, one of silver that her mother had given to her a few days before. Selena, the only child Artemis ever birthed, was looking for blood.

Finally there was a patriarch, the ringleader, the head of the family and the supreme leader of the army, its officers and all his conquered lands. His silver, grey and sea-green armor was hardly visible against the grey mountain save for its shine, but his golden blade was very much visible for all to see. Like his daughter, his face was only an echo of the former lopsided smirk that spent the vast majority of its time attached to his lips. That smirk was gone now, ever since his parents, his son and his soul were taken. Percy Jackson was no more, now it was only Perseus.

The citizens still had not noticed the enemy on the border, and so he raised his golden sword. The xiphos glared bright as he reached for his belt and pulled out the same horn he'd used to summon the Northern forces.

With a deep breath, he blew a relatively high note into the Norse-crafted horn, alerting not just the city and camp to their presence, but also the evil waiting in the depths of the forest.

They were still working on the walls, although nearly finished. They had worked fast and hard overnight, and it was already several metres off the ground. Not enough to stop the siege but high enough so that the monsters would need ladders to scale the walls, even the taller ones. There were still workers, mainly citizens, on the ground who were putting the finishing touches on the lower layers of the wall.

So they were all caught off guard when the horn sounded, and as they looked to the trees they saw many rustling bushes and shadowy figures moving from the darkness out to the open.

The setting sun's light shone on Luke and Bob as they rode out on the hellhounds, wolves and dogs as large as rhinos and as fierce as rabid mutts. They led a horde of them, maybe a hundred, entirely just to kick off the battle.

When they saw the beasts charging down the hill, the civilians ran, the gates opening just a crack to let the few remaining ones outside to come in and seek safety. Luckily for them all civilians made it inside, but not before one of the first hellhounds managed to jam his head through the crack of the gates before they could close it.

The beast writhed around in between both doors, snarling and growling and snapping at everyone within close proximity. It almost managed to snatch one of the legionnaires manning the gates before its head was suddenly severed from its neck by an Imperial Gold blade.

Estelle panted heavily before handing the blade back to the soldier she had snatched it off of. As the head rolled onto the floor they gatekeepers were finally able to shut them and latch it shut. The rest of the gate defences were moved into place to stop the monsters just breaking down the door as Reyna walked over to assess the damage.

The head, and the body outside, disintegrated and dust swirled around her feet as it went off to reform in the pits of Tartarus. One down, thousands more to go. "Well, the battle has begun. Everyone at your stations!" She snapped, and all who were for whatever reason not yet ready immediately scurried off.

Archers lined the walls as the hellhounds scratched against the stone and pounded against the gates. Many of them were hunters, the rest were Apollo's children and other archers scrambled from every cabin and cohort. There were not really any guards over at New Rome yet as all the action was on the west side of Camp, away from the city, and even if the monsters moved for the city the camp had walls along the road to the city that could be used for moving back and forth.

Percy saw that all the outside stragglers were now in there and figured they'd better back up the hellhounds lest they get mowed down by arrows without any protection. "Kínisi, térata!" He yelled, and quickly out of the woods came the brutes of the army.

Giants, cyclopes and other large monstrosities marched forward to meet their canine allies, most carrying blunt weapons such as clubs and hammers but some wielded axes and other equally deadly weapons.

When they saw the giants coming towards them, the archers were ready. "Aim for the eyes, they have no armor there!" Thalia advised her fellow huntresses, raising her bow and taking aim, to which the girls all followed suit. Originally they were just gonna fire at will, but when all the other archers raised their bows and took aim they decided a more organized fire would be more efficient.

Reyna, running past the wall right underneath Thalia, called out to her friend. "Thalia! You're in command of their archers!" She called, and the lieutenant of Artemis nodded. She took aim again, looking down the eyehole of a Laistrygonian Giant's thick metal helmet. "Steady!" She called, waiting for a clearer shot.

The monsters were out in the open, maybe two hundred of them alone, though the wide open plains in front of them made it look a lot less. They inched closer and closer as the hounds still piled up at the door. "Steady!" Thalia called, waiting for the monsters to get closer.

She waited until they were only about a hundred yards out from the wall before giving the command. "Fire!"

Instantly a wave of a hundred arrows soared from the walls of the camp, flying through the air towards the enemy. About a quarter of them missed as the monsters ran past their destination, and another half simply bounced off the monsters' armor. A quarter of the arrows, mainly from the hunters, managed to find weak points in the giants' armor, be it their necks, elbows, eyes, or armpits. All who were hit quickly exploded into dust.

Wanting to give them a false sense of security, Percy had Achilles give off another signal with his horn. This one was also quite high pitched for a horn, but was a different melody to the one played before.

Surprising literally everyone in the camp, the giants suddenly arched around in their paths to run back the way they came into the treeline. Almost instantaneously, the hellhounds stopped scratching at the door as Luke and Bob led the pack back to the same direction.

Most of the heroes sighed in relief, but there were quite a few who seemed unsure about it all. That didn't sound like a retreat horn, more like a change of plans. Reyna knew it wasn't over. They'd be back.

Back in the Jackson family household Larissa was preparing herself. Despite her disabilities the girl had managed to pull on some pants and strap metal plates around them to avoid further damage. Dressing her upper half was easier, as she merely had to pull on a leather jacket over her black tank top.

Of course, as she was hardly going to be able to defend herself, she had quite heavy armor for her upper body. She had metal plates covering every single part of her army save for the pit in between her forearm and brachium. Her gloves had small metal plates in them to pack an extra punch in case she had to resort to fist fighting. Her chest was covered by a heavy metal tank not unlike something Ares would wear.

Finally her helmet covered her entire face aside from her eyes. A silver crown just like Calix's, with jagged grooves all along the sides and back. On the sides were two small spiked wings that went back at a 45 degree angle up. On the top there were more jagged spikes that traveled in the same direction like she was some sort of Anime character with over exaggerated hair. Covering her mouth was another plate in the shape of a heater shield with more grooves and breathing holes for obvious reasons. Inside her helmet she had a black balaclava and woolen cap to cushion the metal and any blows she'd receive.

She summoned her sword, the one forged from Typhon's blood, and looked it over. She had obsessively polished it earlier in the day so she could see her own reflection clear as day in the golden metal. As she looked over her blade one last time she noticed something else reflecting next to her face and she whirled around. "Mom?!" She asked in surprise.

Artemis was standing in the doorway with a worried expression on her face. "What are you doing, Riss?" She asked, having caught her daughter red handed. The girl's face hardened as she put away the sword, swinging her legs around to face her mother. "I'm going out to fight. What are you doing?" She asked, noting her mother's attire. The goddess was dressed like she was going out into cold weather, and night was pretty cold.

Artemis stumbled on her words as she tried to think up an excuse before giving up. "I- uh, I'm... I'm going out to fight." She said sternly, holding her ground. Larissa and Artemis stared each other down in silence before Larissa asked another question. "So you're going out to fight your children, or your hunters?" She asked.

Artemis' eyes drifted to her feet. "I'm going to protect my hunters from your father and siblings. I need to make sure they stay safe." She said determinedly. Larissa's mouth was dry as she swallowed. "So you're fighting your family."

Artemis' eyes were wet as she shook her head vehemently. "No! I just... I know the monsters are gonna win, and they're going to destroy New Rome. If I can at least try and guard my hunters from Percy's army and get them to safety, I can be content with that. I could finally turn away and pretend it's not happening. Can you really fault me for that, Riss?" She cried.

Larissa was silent for a moment with her arms crossed as she sat on the bed. Without any word she put on her helmet and dived off the bed, immediately breaking into a fast crawl for the forge. "Larissa? Larissa!" Artemis called as she followed her, admittedly not very quickly considering her eldest daughter was slithering like a snake.

It took only two minutes to get down to the forge where Larissa had spent the last day in determination. Once there she rushed over to her project and climbed aboard, leaving behind a stunned Artemis.

Larissa was seated on a large chariot, capable of fitting maybe three people. It was silver with blue highlights and was heavily armored. It looked as though not even Artemis' arrow would be able to pierce it. "Larissa... you made this?" She asked, looking at her crippled daughter.

The girl nodded, sitting on the step while her feet dangled off the side. "Yeah, have been for a day or two. It's gonna help me fight. It's gonna give me legs." She said, proud of her work.

Artemis, with tear stains still on her cheeks, stepped closer to Larissa. "No matter what happens out there, you're still my daughter, now and forever." She said, and Larissa looked up at her with a smile, taking her helmet off. "And you're still my mom, now and forever." She promised, launching herself at Artemis and wrapping her arms around the goddess' neck.

The two hugged for a while before Artemis let go and Larissa put on her helmet. The girl climbed up into the seat, calling out for her godmother. "Nyx!" She yelled, and soon there was a swirl of darkness before the primordial appeared. "Hm?" She hummed upon seeing the girl, seemingly unfazed by the sudden appearance of a chariot.

"I need horses and for you to send me to dad, please." She requested simply, and the goddess complied, snapping her fingers. The chariot was suddenly lifted as two horses appeared out of shadow in front of her, tied to the vehicle. A whirlpool formed out of the darkness, it's destination unclear but simultaneously obvious.

She grabbed a hold of the reins and looked down at her mother and godmother. "Love you mom, Nyx. See you guys on the other side." She said, and the two goddesses nodded. "Stay safe, Larissa." Nyx said. "I love you, Larissa. Goodbye." Artemis bid farewell, giving one last smile before the daughter of Perseus whipped the reins and sent the horses charging through the portal.

Larissa appeared on the other side like it was nothing, as if she was going through a mere doorway and not travelling thousands of miles in less than a second. At the sudden sound of metal clanking and hooves clopping, Achilles' eyes widened and he jumped out of the way, a second from getting trampled by the two shadow mare's and nearly a ton of steel.

All of the Jackson children drew their weapons, thinking they had been ambushed, and they still thought that even as the chariot turned around and the rider was visible to them. "You guys didn't think I was gonna miss out on all the fun, did you?" They heard a familiar girl's voice.

Calix looked up at the voice, his eyes narrowed. "Riss?" He asked confusedly. The charioteer took off her helmet, and long flowing black hair fell out and mesmerizing chromed sea-green eyes pierced his own silver ones. "Sup bro."

The Romans' guards were left down after a while. They waited on the highest alert level for almost an hour before they were even allowed to head to the toilet. After they had begun to move again, things didn't feel as strict around the camp anymore. They were still on high alert and in danger of wetting themselves, but they didn't have the leg strength to all stand guard for hours more when there was the possibility that the monsters had legitimately abandoned the invasion.

Romans began to come out of their homes, checking the skies as if Perseus would swoop down on a dragon and torched their homes. They thought to celebrate, riders came charging across the wall to Camp Jupiter with baskets of food and words of thanks from the city. The guards, encouraged by this contagious celebrating, began to think it was over too. They had sent the Dark Lord running in a matter of minutes. A month-long war, a second Alexandrian conquest, halted just like that. Soon they could be the ones pushing back, and the Greeks were eager to take their home back.

So the Romans and the Greeks were caught well off guard when a column of monsters came charging over the hill. There must have been a thousand of them in this charge alone, but what frightened them more than the numbers were the weapons they packed.

Giants armed with hammers, cyclopes with clubs, even unique monsters such as the minotaur headed the force. On the sides were two long columns of telekhines, groups holding tall ladders capable of reaching over their walls. At the very front of the army was a dark chariot being headed by a masked figure, and behind her were two of the largest giants, each holding a chain of a battering ram.

The guard who noticed this first had his eyes wide as he began to freak out. "Th-they're coming! The monsters are back!" He yelled repeatedly as others started to notice the oncoming forces. In the city civilians grabbed their children and ran to the safety of their homes, the bells ringing loud across the city.

Guards got into position on the walls of camp and New Rome as the monsters veered off to the right, headed for the former. Reyna, who stood on top of the wall, turned and shouted down below. "COVER THE GATES!"

Roughly thirty or so of the campers piled themselves against the gates, intent on cushioning the sudden imminent impact. On the other side Larissa spurred the horses faster on as they edged closer to the camp. The horde behind her seemed to be causing an earthquake as they headed for the gates.

Right before reaching the gates Larissa veered left, swinging around to ride against the side of the horde, whipping her horses and roaring. The campers inside held their breaths as the monsters with the ram reached the gate.

BOOM

The dust flew up like a bomb had just been dropped on the camp. The campers held firm as they expected the gates to immediately go flying open, but to their surprise the dust settled and they were left standing.

They soon looked up and saw the gates seemingly unharmed, while on the outside Reyna looked down at the monsters. When they saw that not only were the gates unharmed but their ram was split nearly in half, the monsters roared in anger.

The column fell out of formation as the horde gathered in front of the city. Giants were hammering away at the stone walls, somehow barely making dents. Seeing their plan fail and their resorting to brutality, Reyna grinned and raised her arm. "Archers! Fire at will!" She called, spurring the legionnaires and hunters to nok arrows and aim down at the monsters. The first round fired, killing two dozen of them.

They continued to fire at the defenseless group as Larissa circled back around behind the group, glaring at the warriors posted on the walls.

At the sight of the slaughter taking place, Percy nodded to Calix and signalled for Achilles and the horn. As the eldest son hurried off the second son sounded the alarm with two long drawn out roars. With a voice that could be heard for miles, Percy pointed his sword at the city and yelled. "Take the city! Tear down that wall!"

Surprising everyone and shocking Reyna out of her triumphant grin, there was a definite earthquake as the rapid thumping of an army could be heard in the distance. Out of nowhere an army that maxed out at over thirty thousand came rushing over the northern hills headed towards the city. Not the camp. The city.

On the wall connecting camp and New Rome, Arianna and Estelle watched on in horror as an entire tribe of giants rolled over the hills with large structures, which her pop culture influenced mind quickly recognized as catapults. "They're heading for the city." Estelle noted.

Arianna swallowed what little saliva she had left. "We have to get to New Rome. Come on!" She encouraged her sister, sprinting off to the fortified city with haste.

Back on the cliffside Percy, Achilles and Selena stood, staring down at the battle where the twins now fought side by side, commanding their armies. "A hundred thousand. Holy shit." Selena said in awe, realising that the entire army wasn't even there yet, only about forty percent.

Percy looked on solemnly at the besieged city he once considered a home, albeit while under influence of amnesia. "The reign of the gods will soon be over, we will drag them out by the arms and make them pay for thousands of years of crime. The old world will perish and a new one will be born, with you all at the head." He promised his children, saying nothing of himself.

Selena and Achilles were straight faced, slightly sad as their father wrapped his arms around their shoulders and pulled them in for a hug. Selena tried her best not to think about all the people she knew in there, just as her father was doing. The carnage hadn't even begun.

Originally I was gonna write the next three or so chapters and then publish them all at once but I reckon if I put all my effort into these I can have them out by Sunday, which is when I go away to Portland for a week (kill me). Actually, originally I was gonna write the entire battle as one chapter and have it be like 15000 words but just no. The next two chapters after this are some of the most important in the story so be on the lookout.

Word Count: 3876